Familiar Stranger
by devoted2clois
Summary: '..."Just don't give up on him." "I won't" Brennan nodded "I can't, he's all I have."' While in hospital, Scully passes a woman whom she swears to recognise.  B&B MSR. One Shot. Slightly AU


**Hey guys, this is my first try at X Files fanfic. I wrote this in History today while on my vow of silence, and I was gunna publish it then, but I didn't finish my A/N :P So this is set at the end of season 4 of Bones, and X Files (actually more AU in season 5 but anyway).**

Dana Scully strolled down the halls of the hospital wing. Wearing a hospital gown was something she was definitely not used to. After spending weeks in a hard hospital bed, it felt amazing being able to walk around. Lost in her own thoughts, she almost forgot that the person who was helping her walk, was her partner in crime, her partner in life, her best friend. Fox Mulder held a hand around Scully's waist, supporting her as she took small slightly staggered steps. He held onto her hand with his free one and whispered encouraging words in her ear.

"I hate feeling so dependent on you" murmured Scully as she almost tripped over her own feet.

"Trust me, you won't be for much longer." Mulder replied, giving her a warm reassuring smile.

They continued wandering down the hallway, passing rooms on their left and right. Scully slowed down near each door, and out of curiosity, glanced inside. At one particular room, she saw a woman sitting on a chair away from the bed where a man was lying. He had a bandage around his head, and was connected to several monitors. The woman was on her laptop computer, lost in thought. Scully racked her brain from where she had seen the woman before.

"What's going on it that brain of yours?" Mulder asked, noting the deep look of concentration on her face.

"I've seen her before" she whispered, pointing at the woman "and I don't know where."

Feeling that somebody was looking at her, the woman turned around.

"Excuse me, may I ask why you are staring?"

"Oh, I'm sorry" Scully apologized "I was just walking by and I thought that I recognized you."

"Maybe you do know me, I don't know" she shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to her computer.

"I know that it's not really my place, but I'm sorry about your husband." Scully removed her hand from Mulder's and took a step closer to the door.

"My partner" she corrected "he is my partner."

"Labels don't really matter now do they?" Scully laughed gingerly and shrugged her shoulders.

"He is my partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth, I am the consultant from the Jeffersonian Institution and Booth is my partner." She said, telling herself this more than she was telling Scully.

"I'm Special Agent Dana Scully" Scully automatically reached for her pocket for ID "and this is my partner, Special Agent Fox Mulder."

"I'm Dr. Temperance Brennan" Brennan replied, closing her laptop and turning in her seat.

"We were just going for a walk, maybe go outside" Mulder said "did you want to join us?"

"No thank you, I would like to be with Booth when he wakes up." Brennan answered, looking longingly at her partner lying in the bed.

"How long has he been in a coma for?" Scully asked, the doctor insider her stepping up.

"Three days, he had a reaction to the anaesthesia." Brennan explained, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm sure he will wake up" Scully assured her.

"How can you know?" Brennan asked.

"I'm a medical doctor" Scully answered "I have seen several patients reacting to anaesthesia and waking up, although it does depend on the condition that required the surgery."

"Booth had a brain tumour." Brennan paused "they were able to get it out, but there is still a chance that it may come back in the next year or two."

"Sometimes we just need to pray for a miracle."

"I am not religious." Brennan said bluntly, a hint of a smile on her face.

"Miracles can still happen" Mulder but in "Scully here is living proof."

"How so?"

"A while ago I was diagnosed with terminal cancer." Scully explained in a clinical tone "I am now in remission."

"So you think that Booth still has a chance, even if all the other doctors are telling me that he may not wake up?"

"There's always a chance" Scully assured her. "Just don't give up on him."

"I won't" Brennan nodded "I can't, he's all I have."

She opened up her laptop and continued typing, silently dismissing Scully and Mulder. As they slowly made their way out of the hospital room, they could hear the tapping of keys and her mumbling –

"_When you love someone, you open yourself up to suffering. That's the sad truth. Maybe they'll break your heart, maybe you'll break their heart and never be able to look at yourself in the same way. Those are the risks. The thought of losing so much control over personal happiness is unbearable. That's the burden. Like wings, they have weight, we feel that weight on our backs, but they are a burden that lifts us. Burdens which allow us to fly."_

**The End. **

**Please leave a review on the way out :P**


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